pollinium

[ puh-lin-ee-uhm ]

noun

, Botany.

, plural pol·lin·i·a [p, uh, -, lin, -ee-, uh].

1. an agglutinated mass or body of pollen grains, characteristic of plants of the orchid and milkweed families.

pollinium

/ pəˈlɪnɪəm /

noun

1. a mass of cohering pollen grains, produced by plants such as orchids and transported as a whole during pollination

pollinium

/ pŏ-lĭn′ē-əm /

, Plural pollinia

1. A mass or packet of pollen grains specialized for transfer to other flowers as a unit by pollinating insects. Orchids and milkweeds produce pollinia.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pollinium¹

1860–65; < New Latin, equivalent to pollin- (stem of pollen ) pollen + -ium -ium

Word History and Origins

Origin of pollinium¹

C19: New Latin; see pollen

Example Sentences

The grand prize in the lottery is a packet called a pollinium.

From Scientific American

As flowers evolved intricate structures to attach pollinia—some orchids stick  them smack between the eyes of their favorite insect species, for instance—reproductive barriers likely formed, giving birth to new species.

From Science Magazine

Anthers tipped with an inflexed or sometimes erect scarious membrane, the cells lower than the top of the stigma; pollinia suspended.

From Project Gutenberg

Referring to Crüger's letters from Trinidad, he wrote:—"Happy man, he has actually seen crowds of bees flying round Catasetum, with the pollinia sticking to their backs!"

From Project Gutenberg

The seed vessel to be fertilized is very sticky, "but not so viscid as when touched by a pollinium to pull the whole off an insect's head."

From Project Gutenberg